South Korean carmaker Kia criticized on Thursday the recent vandalism attacks on Tesla Superchargers as it officially joins the network of over 21,500 DC fast chargers.
In a statement, the company said Tesla superchargers are “critical infrastructure,” adding it “condemns the recent attacks that disrupt the availability of convenient and affordable charging for our customers.”
Kia EV owners using vehicles equipped with NACS port (or via the brand’s adapter) can now access Tesla Superchargers, nearly doubling the number of available charging stations compared to before.
“With more than 22,000 accessible DC fast chargers already online in other networks, Kia EV owners now can charge at more than 40,000 DC fast chargers, increasing convenience and reducing range anxiety,” the company said in a statement.
In March, Kia ran a full-page advertisement in Finland’s largest newspaper in March directly targeting Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk.
The campaign came shortly after Kia’s Norwegian division launched a social media campaign that showed another EV model with a sticker reading, “I bought this after Elon went crazy.” The post was later on deleted.
Commenting on the recent media campaigns against the Elon Musk-led company, Kia America said it is “aware of marketing posts by certain Nordic distributors” while guaranteeing that they were developed “entirely independently by those distributors, without direction from Kia America, Kia Europe or Kia Global.”
“We want it to be clear that these posts do not reflect the position of Kia America, and we remain committed to clear and professional communication that reflects our values,” the company stated.
Shared on Instagram in early March, the Norwegian campaign quickly went viral and drew a reaction from Musk himself, who posted on X, “They really did that?”
Kia has previously run targeted incentive programs to lure Tesla owners, including a $1,500 bonus in the U.S. last year and a $9,000 discount on its flagship EV9 SUV. Musk responded to those initiatives in September, posting on X: “But here’s the rub, Tesla never has to bribe Kia drivers to buy a Tesla…”
